Silicone Tail: need to take sides in

[Sam]

Aloha,

I purchased a used silicone tail from the Mertailor. Some spots are a bit baggy. Also the job he did matching up the sides makes the tail look REALLY bulky. I would like to take it in but don't know how to go about doing this. Does any one know?

Thanks so much,
Sam

[Mermaid Lorelei]

From what you explained, you will need to cut the seams open and glue them back together tighter. However, you will need to use the same silicone that the mertailor used.

[Kanti]

I'm not sure what you mean by the "matching up the sides" maybe you can take a photo, but to take it in you're going to need to buy some Dragonskin silicone from Smooth-on (they have a sample version that costs $30) and you're going to need to take apart the seam (probably using an exacto knife or a razor), detatch the seam, and use the Dragonskin you bought as glue to take it in and "glue" it in the proper position however much more you need to be taken in.

[Patches]

Oh man that sucks. :/ My mertailor tail is actually too small for me but I still wear it anyways.
Think of it this way, better it be too big than too small. It being too big can always be fixed; however,
I wouldn't recommend cutting it and gluing it back together. Not worth the risk for the ridiculous amount
of money that silicone tails are.

[Kanti]

Actually it's a lot more simple than you'd think Raye!
You're right though, most people are a bit scared to do it because it's so expensive which is probably why no one has explained how. Well, the only people who KNOW how simple it is wouldn't want you to know xD
But anyway, silicone is pretty simple to worth with and very straightforward.

[Aino Revontuletar]

Raye, If it was too small couldn't you just make an extra sheet of scales then cut it open at the seam and add the extra bit to make it bigger and glue it together using more silicone? I think it would be worth a try considering how much you spent on it, it's better to have a tail that actually fits

[Kanti]

Exactly, Aino!
And you can repair the tail yourself with an "on-site" mold for literally $30 in molding materials that you can pick up at home depot and joanns/michaels and $30 in dragonskin.

Raye, your tail actually sounds pretty simple to fix and I can do an excellent job since I have the ACTUAL molding materials (which are a bit more expensive but I have access to them because that's what I do for a living). If we're already working on a tail for you I'll literally have the silicone to fix your mertailor tail for free. We can even replace your monofin if you buy a new one, it's literally STUPID easy to do. I can even cut the monofin in whatever shape you want.
If you want to learn how, I can show you as I work on it, I'd just like to take a look at it first. We should REALLY meet up this weekend, Raye xD

[Patches]

Ahhh this makes me nervous DDD: Please don't do it yourself. I'd seriously send it back to him and have him repair it. Always return the tail to the original maker. So if something was damaged on the tail Kanti is making me, then I'd return it to her to fix it.

[Kanti]

Hehe I understand you're worried, so I don't want to pressure you, but may I still take a look at it sometime?
I can show you a literal example if you'd like to show you what I will do, but we don't have to do it if you don't want :')

[Sam]

10202
You can see how ugly and bulky the sides are here. I just don't like the way it looks in photos. I'm skinny and the tail just looks monsterous to me.
Thanks so much for all your feedback everyone! Kanti, what kind of paint would I use? I asked Eric if I could purchase some paint and he won't sell it to me.

[Sam]

Oh and Kanti I wish you lived close to me so I could hire to help me with this!!!

[Kanti]

I might try to make a video on the basic "how to's" with fixing it because I really think it's simple enough that you could do it with some guidance. Especially on a tail like that where the seam is so clearly visible.

[Sam]

Now THAT would be amazing. I also really want to try to shape the sides better. They're just blobbed together and I want to make it look seamless. That would entail cutting some of the sides to look more like scales. Any paint suggestions?
Thanks again for all your help :)

[Kanti]

Umm explaining how to make it seamless might be a bit hard.. I'll try to make a clay sculpture as an example and take pictures so you know what I mean. I'll try to get a video up sooner or later too, since that just seems like the simplest way.

What do you mean about paint suggestions?
If you're asking how to paint silicone you have to mix pigment (or paint) in with silicone. Only silicone will grip the silicone in order to hold the paint on, so you'll have to order either Psychopaint or Dragonskin.

[Sam]

Well I want to paint directly on the silicone. I want to cut down the bulky sides and shape it more into scales but then I'll have to paint those sides after.

[Coradion]

Hey Sam, Mermaid Harmony and I are also on O'ahu. I have some experience working with silicone and we're working on new dragonskin tails now. If you want to meet up some time and swim or maybe work on your tail, or plan out how to alter it let us know.

[Sam]

Yay local mers! Yes I would love to swim some time and talk about tail making. I'm thinking of going to electric beach this sunday. Want to join?

Can you message me at https://www.facebook.com/#!/MermaidNeri

[Ariel-Starfish]

Yay local mers! Yes I would love to swim some time and talk about tail making. I'm thinking of going to electric beach this sunday. Want to join?

Can you message me at https://www.facebook.com/#!/MermaidNeri

Just had a quick look on your FB pictures... the mertailor tail looks GORGEUS on you!! <3

[Sam]

Thanks so much!!!

[BlueMermaid]

I have a few tears in my silicone tail. One on the waist, and one in the heel. Does anyone know if I could patch it by adding some dragonskin to the inside and back of the tear, thereby sealing closing the tear? Does new dragonskin bond with cured dragonskin?

[Kanti]

Yes it does, BlueMermaid.
You can order the "sample" size for $25 and use that as glue. Works very well!

[BlueMermaid]

Thank you for the tip Kanti!! :D

[Kanti]

Yep!
Something else that might help is something called "power mesh"
It's a sort of "spandexy" material that you can use to reinforce areas where you might be stretching a whole lot. If you put a bit under the area of the tail where there's a tear and just put some silicone to glue it in place, it'll basically act as a "barrier" in a way to keep the silicone from stretching too much in a weak area.

Smooth-on DOES sell it but it's not listed on their website. You can also find it at joanns!

[BlueMermaid]

Thanks Kanti! I will look for that! I appreciate the help so very much!!

[Kanti]

Anytime~

[Sam]

I've never used dragon skin but I would think it should adhere fine. I had a couple holes at the base and sealed it with GE clear silicon as recommended by Eric for a quick fix. Rips are more serious and I would assume if you sent it to someone to fix they'd use dragon skin on it.

[MermaidSaku]

this has to be one of my fears of having my silicone tail xD weightloss and it being to big after about a year or so xD

[Kanti]

Yea, having to mess with anything that cost you $1000+ is a very scary experience.

[Sam]

Kanti, I want to purchase the sample size of dragon skin but don't know which one to get. There's slow, medium and fast. Does this only refer to the drying time or are they used for different things? I don't want to purchase the wrong one!
Thanks so much!!!

[Morticia Mermaid]

Kanti, I want to purchase the sample size of dragon skin but don't know which one to get. There's slow, medium and fast. Does this only refer to the drying time or are they used for different things? I don't want to purchase the wrong one!
Thanks so much!!!

I know this was directed at Kanti- But, I believe that it refers to the drying time. Someone correct me if I'm wrong

[Kanti]

You're right Morticia!
FAST means it cures relatively fast, 8 min working time and in like 40 minutes you can demold it
MEDIUM is like, half hour working time 4 hours demold time
SLOW is like, I forget the working time, but the demold is like 6 hours?

There's a chart for it on Smoothon!
Just look for the "pot life" which is the time you have to work with it and the "demold time" which means the time it takes to fully cure

[Sam]

So does that mean I'll only have 8 minutes to use it before it gets hard?!

[Kanti]

It means that when 8 minutes comes around, the product will have gelled so much that you won't be able to mix it around as it would be when first mixed. For glueing you can get away with the FAST, you just mix a few small batches at a time rather than a really large one.
The larger your batches are, the more time you will need, so it's up to you, really

[Sam]

Thanks so much! I'm really grateful for your input. I'm off to order!